Devices including various measurement units for obtaining biometric information about a user or environmental information about the surrounding environment have been developed (e.g., Patent Literature 1). A device described in Patent Literature 1 includes a plurality of measurement units and a notification unit. Also, various sensor elements have been developed to detect physical quantities including temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, and a light level. Micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) sensor elements (hereafter also referred to as MEMS sensors) using MEMS technology, which are compact and consume low power, now receive attention. Such compact and low power MEMS sensor elements may be incorporated in a single device, enabling the design of an environmental sensor including multiple different sensor elements.
An environmental sensor with this structure can detect multiple physical quantities associated with, for example, an office environment or a living space, and can obtain, for example, various items of information such as biometric information and environmental information, in addition to energy-related information such as electric power. Such information can then be used to support multidirectional analysis and use of information.
An environmental sensor including multiple sensor elements is typically installed at a fixed location for continuously measuring the environment for a fixed duration. However, the environmental sensor may be unintentionally moved to a different location or its power may be shut. For example, a plug-in environmental sensor may be moved together with its power strip, or an environmental sensor installed on a piece of furniture indoors may be moved together with the furniture. The environmental sensor may be stolen by a third party, or may be moved by a deceptive third party.
In this case, data obtained after the installation state of the environmental sensor changes can differ from data intended initially. If the measurement is continued using the environmental sensor without the state change being detected, the resultant data can either be useless or be used to produce wrong conclusions.